The Portland Primer—17 PDX Picks
This list has a little bit of everything great about Portland—restaurants, lounges and bars, food trucks, gardens, dessert shops, hiking, shopping, breweries, bookstores, and coffee joints. My advice is to go during the summer while the sun is still shining and the days are long, as well as consider exploring much of this guide by bike!
1 | Mediterranean Exploration Company
Photo by Eater Portland
I love to cook, as well as am a serial restaurant goer and MEC provided me and my mum with one of the best meals I have ever had. They elevate already spectacular Mediterranean cuisine with the most clever details such as green goddess tahini, pickling, rose petal harissa, and smoked olive oil. And I dream about their hummus. Hint: The James Beard Foundation has at least one of MEC’s ingenious recipes published for anyone’s kitchen: https://www.jamesbeard.org/recipes/fennel-salad-with-grilled-lemon-vinaigrette.
2 | Alberta Arts District, N Mississippi Ave, & SE Division St
Alberta Arts District Photo by Embrace Someplace
When it comes to general wanderings, go for this trifecta as they are all streets dotted with endless restaurants, food trucks, watering holes, coffee shops, shopping, and local art. The Alberta Arts District includes Salt & Straw (see #12), Random Order Pie Bar (see #7), and The Whale Food Cart Pod (see #9). N Mississippi Ave hosts Matt’s BBQ (see #4) and you will find the Flying Cat Coffee Co. (see #16) on SE Division Street. SE Division Street is also notably one of Portland’s most influential foodie scenes. Consider Bollywood Theater for Indian street food, renowned Pok Pok for Southeast Asian flavors, and Ava Gene’s for farm-to-table Italian.
3 | Multnomah Whiskey Library
Photo by Multnomah Whiskey Library
Yes, this is preferable to the law library I spend so much of my time in. Multnomah sparked my love for aged Scotch whisky, Rob Roys, fancy cherries (Luxardo maraschino cherries), and cavernous decadent interior design jobs. This Library is on a 15 best whisky bars in the world list, on Harper’s Bazaar UK’s luxury guide to Portland, and Thrillist’s the best whisky bar in every state directory, to name only a few accolades.
4 | Matt’s BBQ
Photo by Eater Portland
Matt’s BBQ is a fixed-location food truck that serves Texas-style BBQ and breakfast tacos. Consider ordering the pulled pork 1/2 lb, jalapeño cheddar sausage, queso mac and cheese, and cherry chipotle BBQ sauce. The truck is also nestled in the Prost! Marketplace with 9 other food trucks. Matt’s BBQ has been named food cart of the year by The Oregonian, Portland in general is called the Austin of Oregon (having the best Texas BBQ scene outside of Texas), and the cart was on Bon Appétit’s America’s Best New Restaurants 2019, which was narrowed down to only 10 restaurants nation-wide.
5 | International Rose Test Garden
Photo by Emily Dean
Portland is called the “City of Roses” and this garden alone will make you a believer. The garden is one of eleven American Garden Rose Selections test sites in the United States and rose breeders and distributors from across the world typically donate about 2,500 roses per year to the garden. The garden hosts over 10,000 rose bushes and 650 varieties. The roses bloom from April through October with the peak coming in June.
6 | River Pig Saloon
Photo by Eater Portland
I adore this neighborhood bar in the Pearl District. It is really well known for catching any sporting event, especially drawing in quite the crowd for major games. It is also charmingly dog friendly. I watched USA win the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup here with a German Shepherd howling along whenever the crowd went wild.
7 | Random Order Pie Bar
Photo by Random Order
As Eater Portland has noted, this pie shop is “lauded as one of America’s best pie shops by both Food & Wine and Travel & Leisure.” Opt for their tart Oregon Cherry pie. Note that Random also has their own Bloody Mary to add to the flavor explosion.
8 | Pittock Mansion & Lower Macleay Park to Pittock Mansion Hike
Photo by Emily Dean
Option 1: Hike from Lower Macleay Park to Pittock Mansion, which is 5 miles out and back through a lush forest. See the mansion, the grounds with gorgeous gardens, and a panoramic city view including Mt. Hood (You will only be able to see Mt. Hood on a clear day.). Option 2: Drive to Pittock Mansion and walk as much of the hiking trail as you wish.
9 | The Whale Food Cart Pod
Photo by Emily Dean
The two food trucks that make up this pod are Gumba and Matta. Fine Goose (French) unfortunately permanently closed due to Covid-19. Gumba serves Italian-inspired fancy street food so the food will be more expensive than your average food truck. Gumba was awarded best new food cart of 2017 and The Oregonian wrote that it is some of Portland’s best and most beautiful pasta. Matta was ranked number 3 on a list of Portland’s best new food carts of 2019. Matta delivers Vietnamese soul food like “the classic”—pork belly braised in coconut, chili, and caramel served with soft-boiled egg and topped with cilantro and scallion all on a bed of rice.
10 | Shop at Frances May
Photo by Emily Dean
This is my favorite boutique store in Portland and it consists of both men’s and women’s clothing, shoes, jewelry, books, perfumes, and more. The buyers pick creative, artsy, and beautiful pieces so even if you do not have a cent to spend you will still love perusing and playing dress-up. You can also shop online here: https://www.francesmay.com. (Hint: This store is in Downtown Portland super close to Voodoo Doughnut.)
11 | Breakside Brewery
Photo by Romer Beverage
If you did not go to at least one brewery, you did not go to Portland, Oregon. Breakside has 3 locations (I enjoy the OG location—NE Dekum Pub.) and was named Brewery of the Year in 2017 and 2019 at the Oregon Beer Awards and the 2018 Best of Craft Beer Awards. The food is delicious and I love the unique beer selection on tap such as a strawberry rhubarb pie or cactus flower beer, a brew called “Rainbows & Unicorns,” and their tasty IPA entitled “Wanderlust.”
12 | Dessert at Salt & Straw and/or (preferably and) Blue Star Donuts
Photo by Blue Star Donuts
Salt & Straw and Blue Star Donuts are now superstar companies (for good reason) but they both originated in Portland! S & S’s Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons is always a winner and my BSD donuts of choice are the Raspberry Rosemary Buttermilk, Orange Olive Oil, and Meyer Lemon & Key Lime Curd donuts. The truly OG S & S location is in the Alberta Arts District—this is where the magic happened.
13 | Powell’s Books
Photo from Pinterest
Go to this very famous independent bookstore’s headquarters, nicknamed Powell’s City of Books, for new and used books galore. This bookstore occupies an entire city block so do not equate independent with small.
14 | Cascade Brewing Barrel House
Photo by Oregon Live
This is the “House of Sour,” a worship place for sour beers if you will. As Cascade notes, “These beers have aggressive tart notes that are balanced by residual sugars, fruits, spices and the oak we use.” I was then/am now sold. With more than 28 rotating taps, it is smart to order a flight!
15 | Besaws Brunch
Photo by Besaws
First of all, note the FANTASTIC airy interior. Second, heed the day drinking menu with classics like the Michelada and twists like the Rose Negroni. Third, stuff your face with the Nashville hot chicken & waffle, the red eye hanger steak with corn grits, or the guajillo pork chilaquiles and rafa's huevos rancheros as the best breakfast is Mexican.
16 | Flying Cat Coffee Co.
Photo by Emily Dean
Cute, cozy, low-key, relaxing . . . paired with excellent coffee and homemade baked goods. https://www.restaurantji.com/or/portland/flying-cat-coffee-co-/
17 | Modern Times The Belmont Fermentorium
Photo by Modern Times
Modern Times has my heart for many reasons. For one, their choice of tasting room names between Portland and California is whimsical, as are the various interior designs—The Dankness Dojo in LA, Flavordome in San Diego, and The Academy of Recreational Sciences in Santa Barbara, to name some. At the Belmont location, I like that I can engage in competitive foosball matches while sipping on the Neko Kingdom, which is a gose with Buntan (Japanese citrus) and pineapple that they collaborated with a Japanese brewery on.
